Crowe & Shanahan is located at 500 N. Broadway, Suite 1420.
We validate our clients’ parking for the lot located in our building at 500 North Broadway, including the valet service. You will receive detailed information with your appointment letter.
Each case is different. At your initial appointment, your attorney will give you a general idea of how long your case is expected to take. The Social Security Administration is not required to make decisions under any time limit.
Soon after the initial appointment, we will file your appeal if you have not done it yourself. There two Social Security hearing offices in the St. Louis area: downtown and Creve Coeur. The waiting time for a hearing is different at each office. Generally speaking:
In some situations, processing times can be expedited if you experience a drastic change in your medical or financial circumstances. This includes terminal illnesses. It may also include dire financial circumstances in which you are threatened with eviction, foreclosure or the loss of basic utilities. With proof, your attorney can request your case be expedited based on dire needs. However, Social Security may or may not agree to speed up your case.
How to get to the St. Louis area Social Security hearings offices (Office of Disability Adjudication and Review):
The downtown Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review is located at 200 N. Broadway, Suite 900. It is a large, modern, red brick building with black glass windows. There is a garage in the 200 N. Broadway building (entrance on the north side of Pine Street between 4th Street and Broadway – look for the ramp up into the building). This is the closest place to park. Crowe & Shanahan can validate your parking in this building. Metrolink stops at 8th & Pine or Convention Center, both several blocks walk.
The Creve Coeur Social Security Office of Disability Adjudication and Review is located at 1285 Fern Ridge Parkway.
You will need a photo ID when you arrive at the hearing office. Do not bring knives, pepper spray or anything that could be considered a weapon. You will go through a security check.
The hearing is the most important part of your disability claim. You will have an opportunity to meet face to face with a United States administrative law judge, who will decide your claim. The hearing is not in a courtroom or courthouse. Present at the hearing will be you, your attorney, the judge and a clerk who assists the judge. Often there are additional expert witnesses at the hearing to testify regarding your work experience and medical problems. Your attorney will talk to you before the hearing to explain in detail what to expect and let you who will be at your hearing. They will be with you throughout the entire process. The judge and your lawyer will ask you questions at the hearing. Each judge has a different style of questioning. Sometimes hearings are as short as 15-20 minutes and other times they can last 60-90 minutes.
Generally, you will be asked questions in the following areas:
For mental problems, you will be asked similar questions and asked to describe how the mental condition affects your ability to deal with people, deal with work-related stress, remember and follow directions, and keep your mind focused on work duties.
You will not receive a decision at the hearing. Decisions are always in writing and take weeks or months to receive. The wait to get your hearing decision can vary greatly from one judge to another. The attorney will not know anything about the decision any sooner than you do. When a decision is made, a copy will be mailed to both you and the attorney on the same day.
It is important that you stay under regular medical care at all times for all medical conditions. The Social Security Administration cannot pay benefits without ongoing medical proof of disability.
It is also important that you keep your attorney up to date with anything new in your health care. We want to know about your doctor visits. We want you to report changes in treatment, medications or doctors. Tell us about any hospital visits. Let us know when therapy begins or ends. Keep us informed about all medical testing.
Be sure your doctor knows what your medical problems are and that they know you are not working. Tell your doctor about everything that is bothering you. If the problem is not in your medical records, the Social Security judge will probably not consider it.
Generally speaking, any work activity you do during the period you are alleging total disability will complicate your case. You should discuss any possibility of working with your attorney before you start working. We can explain how the particular work activity could affect your specific case:
There is still work to be done. If your case is approved by the administrative law judge in a written decision, a copy will be sent to both you and the attorney. Crowe & Shanahan will send you a letter with detailed information. Your attorney will want to speak with you about this favorable decision. The attorney will normally be able to give you information on your payment rates, how far back benefits will go, Medicare and Medicaid issues, and the time it takes to process payments.
Workers’ compensation benefits can reduce and in some cases eliminate Social Security and SSI payments. If you have a workers’ compensation claim make sure your attorney knows. If there has been any change in your payments if your case has been settled, be sure to tell your attorney right away. With the right information, your attorney can tell you whether your particular workers’ compensation payments will affect your Social Security payments.
Social Security benefits are sometimes tax-free and sometimes partly taxable, depending on other income in your household. You may be required to make estimated quarterly income tax payments. It is a good idea to talk to a tax professional when you get your Social Security payment letter. SSI benefits are never taxable.
Social Security reduces SSI benefits if a person has almost any income. If you are like most people, you had little or no income of your own while you were fighting for SSI benefits. You may have lived with friends or relatives and were not able to cover your own expenses. The government considers that support to be like a gift to you. They count the value of gifts as a kind of income that can reduce SSI benefits.
Since no one keeps records that show exactly how much this support is worth, the Social Security Administration reduces SSI benefits by one-third for any month you are living with and being supported by someone else. The only exception is if you can prove you had to pay back the value of this support, whether or not you were approved for SSI. The government considers that a loan and does not count it as income to you. However, you may have to show the Social Security Administration that you and the person you lived with had this agreement before you filed your SSI application.
The Social Security Administration’s staff does not always apply these rules the same way for everyone. Your lawyer can give you information about their policy after your benefits are approved.
You can have your SSI benefit increase to the maximum rate if you start paying your fair share of the household expenses from your benefits. For instance, if you lived with three people, you would be responsible for one-quarter of the household expenses. If your SSI monthly rate was reduced and you are now paying your share of the expenses, be sure to notify your local Social Security Administration office.
As noted above, SSI back benefits are paid in installments at six-month intervals. However, if you have incurred debts for food, clothing, housing and medical expenses and you can document those debts, you can request that Social Security increase your first installment to allow you to repay those who helped you.
The Social Security Administration will withhold our fee from your back benefits and pay us directly. We will send you a statement for our expenses to get the medical records and doctors reports we needed to win your case. In our fee agreement, the yellow form we both signed when you hired us, you promised to pay us back for those costs. You are responsible for paying the expense amount directly to Crowe & Shanahan. The Social Security Administration does not pay for the costs of obtaining medical evidence. We do not expect to receive the expenses until your benefits have been paid.
We take pride in the strong professional and personal relationships we build with each client. You will meet with the attorney early on and that same attorney will be with you throughout the process. You can rely on us to give you honest advice about your options because this is the right thing to do.
As your advocates, we will remain by your side throughout the process, developing a strategy that fits your specific circumstances. Your legal and financial issues are unique, so we tailor our advice according to your situation. Many individuals and families have benefited from this legal approach.
